Salim Al-Qadir

Salim was born in 2366 in the city of Al Jahra, Kuwait in the United Arab States on Earth. His father was a systems engineer, and his mother was police officer with the Al Jahra authorities. He has four brothers and two sisters. As with the rest of the people of Earth, the people of the United Arab States have learned to put the bigotries and indifferences of the past behind them and live in peace. Children born in the United Arab States grow up like the rest of the people on Earth. Al Jahra is located just south of the region of Iraq, near the Persian Gulf. It’s population is 341,273(as of 2399).

Salim’s primary and secondary education took place at the Anwar-Nadim School Center. At the age of twelve, Salim and his family was living near the Cardassian border on Starbase 211. His father was stationed on the USS Independence which was patrolling the border during the Cardassian-Federation War. A sneak attack on the Independence resulting in it’s destruction. Following the tragedy, Salim and his family had a funeral service on the starbase and shortly thereafter relocated to Earth.

When Salim got back to Earth with his family, he felt very out of place. Life didn’t mean much to him, and if it weren’t for his best friend Iman, he most likely would have turned to crime. He did get into a lot of trouble, but Iman always managed to get him out of it. When the two boys reached the age of 18, Iman was planning on joining Starfleet. Ever since he turned 17 he had constantly talked about joining, and it irritated Salim to no end.

Almost a month before Iman was to leave for the academy, he collapsed while he and Salim were out walking. Iman had an almost undetectable brain condition that was never noticed before by his doctors. Iman was paralyzed from the neck down, and cybernetics could only help so much. His brain was effected, and he would sometimes forget what he was talking about. His dream of joining Starfleet was crushed. Although he couldn’t express this in words, Salim knew.

After a few months, Salim decided he’d join Starfleet. Not just for Iman, but also for himself. He was determined to succeed.

In the spring of 2370 (age 18), after passing the Starfleet Academy Preparatory Program, and the academy entrance exam, Salim began to enroll for Academy courses.

During his first year he showed an aptitude for starship mechanics and began taking more classes to eventually become an engineer. For his second year, he was assigned to Deep Space 12 where he served as an systems engineer while also taking courses on the computer. In the following year, he was proving to be a valuable asset to the starbase’s engineering team. Shortly before his departure back to Earth for his junior year, the starbase came under attack by the Klingons. After a long siege, the crew of the starbase managed to hold back the Klingons. However, they couldn’t do it forever, not with their ship beaming over troops as reinforcements. The Klingons had taken control of operations and it seemed they were close to winning.

That’s when 3rd Year Cadet Al-Qadir armed two photon torpedoes and beamed them into the Klingon’s engineering section. The explosion destroyed the ship, and the remaining Klingons were easily dealt with after that. Almost an hour later, the USS Missouri arrived to provide assistance and protect the facility against any further Klingon incursions into Federation space.

Salim received several commendations for bravery and excellence and continued the rest of his term on Deep Space 12. For his fourth year the cadets on DS12 were ordered back to Earth for their safety following the beginning of the Dominion War. En route to Earth, his transport ship was attacked by the Jem’Hedar and Salim, along with a handful of other cadets were taken prisoner.

Salim spent the rest of the war a prisoner on the Cardassian planet Pillius IV. When the war ended he was rescued by a Starfleet vessel. His years as a prisoner are not documented and Salim has refused to discuss what happened to him while he was there. What is known is that while imprisoned he befriended another cadet, 1st year Cadet Isadora Mackenzie and a Romulan woman, Zira. Following their return to Federation space, Salim helped Zira become a Federation citizen and she joined Starfleet shortly after.

Salim returned to Earth to finish the remainder of his term at Starfleet Academy along with his friend Isadore (Izzy).When he got back, it was business as usual. Salim continued to do very well in his classes. He struggled with advanced warp theory however, and failed the course the first time around. He took again however, and passed.

Salim graduated with honors in Starship Mechanics, Engineering, and Warp Theory in 2376 with the rank of Ensign. He was assigned to Earth’s embassy on Andoria. While there, he learned a lot about engineering and what it meant to be a leader from his senior officer at the time, Commander Teylin. In the summer of 2377, Teylin recommended Salim for promotion.

Now a Lieutenant Junior Grade, Salim was assigned to the USS Sentinel as one of three Assistant Chief Engineering Officers. The Sentinel’s first mission had the ship patrolling the Romulan Neutral Zone. On the first day of patrol, the ship picked up an unknown energy signature coming from a planet on the Federation side of the border.

The signal was coming from an asteroid orbiting a gas giant. Picking up no life-signs, the Sentinel beamed down an away team to investigate, and Salim was part of it. The team discovered what appeared to be a covert observation post used to spy on high-profile Federation targets. They quickly tried to get a hold of the Sentinel, but with no luck. Something was jamming the communications signal.

They soon found out why they picked up no life signs. It appeared the Romulans had been possessed by some sort of non-corporeal entity. Phasers had no effect, and the away team barely managed to escape in a shuttle. When they got back to the Sentinel, the ship destroyed the facility. As soon as they did this, two Romulan birds of prey were forced to decloak by explosion. Preparing for battle, the crew of the Sentinel was surprised to see the Romulans turn around and head back to their space. Not wishing to start a war, the Sentinel did not pursue. It is unclear if this was ther Imperial Navy or the Tal Shiar.

After three years on the Sentinel, Salim was promoted to full Lieutenant and was transferred to the USS T’Pau as Chief Engineer. After serving on the T’Pau for four years, Salim moved to San Francisco on Earth. After his time on the T’Pau he wanted to go into command, and to do that, he’d have to go back to school.

During his first year(2380), Salim excelled in most of his classes at Command school. He was happy to be back on Earth, it allowed him to visit with family back home and reconnect with his roots. During this time, both Salim was promoted to Lieutenant Commander.

Salim graduated from Command School in 2383, and was assigned to the USS Constellation as first officer under Captain Mark Hudson. The Constellation was one of the vessels which rendered aid and assisted in the evacuation of Romulus and Remus in 2384.

Four years after serving on the Constellation, Salim had proved himself to be a valuable officer and capable commander, resulting in his promotion to Commander in 2386.

The Constellation was ordered to the Cardassian border to engage in patrols and monitor Cardassian activity. The Constellation assisted in most major Starfleet operations in the area just prior to the economic crisis of 2398, fighting pirates and raiders on supplies to and from Cardassian space. After years serving with distinction, Salim was recommended for promotion by Captain Hudson and in 2398 took command of the USS Inverness.

The Inverness shared duties with the Constellation along the Cardassian border but in late 2399, the ship was re-tasked to exploratory duties.